Rivers Polls: Former Senator Accuses Dogara of Furthering PDP Agenda

A former senator from Rivers State, Magnus Abe, has accused the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, of furthering an agenda of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) through a committee hearing investigating the circumstances that led to the killing of 34 persons in February 2016, in the state.
He therefore disclosed his intention not to honour the invitation of the House Committee on Army, which continued on Monday.
This is as the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO) called on the House to caution the Nigerian

military against harassment and brutalisation of civilians ahead of the December 10, 2016 re-run election into National and State Assembly seats in Rivers State.
Abe who is contesting for a seat in the Senate in the rerun polls, accused the PDP of using the National Assembly to tilt the political scales in its favour in Rivers State, even though it is the minority party.
In a strongly worded letter addressedto Dogara,Abesaid the petition which informed the hearing, was an attempt by the PDP to influence public opinion in order to secure undue advantage in the upcoming rerun elections.
“Thus far, actions of the House of

Representatives are tailored towards achieving a clear political advantage for the Peoples Democratic Party… This latest hearing instituted by your office is just another desperate attempt to embarrass the Nigerian Army in furtherance of the PDP agenda. If that werenotthecase,what is the point of inviting me and Hon. BarinaadaaMpigi,theAPCcandidates in the rerun elections. Are we soldiers? ThePeoplesDemocraticPartyinRivers Statehasalreadyinstitutedanarrativeto linktheAPCtotheactivitiesofsoldiers and you have now been recruited to provide the visual images for the PDP campaign in Rivers State,” the letter read.
Abe described the hearing as an abuse of the powers of the

House, adding that it becomes more painful as Dogara was elected on the platform of the APC, but has not given attention to petitions by APC members to his office.

“…but every action of the House of Representatives as announced by Governor Nyesom Wike is implemented to the letter. For the first time in the history of our country, members of the house of assembly elected on the platform of a political party are denied the righttoparticipateintheaffairsof the Rivers State House of assembly. Their constituencies are denied representation simply because they voted for APC. This has elicited no response whatsoever from your office.